Burger Chain Faces Renewed Obesity Lawsuit

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Oak Brook, Illinois--McDonald's is facing a renewed lawsuit from a group of New York teenagers claiming that the fast-food giant was responsible for their obesity and ill health. The amended case was filed only a month after an earlier case from the same plaintiffs was thrown out. McDonald's called the new suit "senseless."

The initial case, brought by New York lawyer Samuel Hirsch on behalf of a group of overweight teenagers from the Bronx, was dismissed by Judge Robert Sweet, who felt the plaintiffs had not shown that McDonald's products presented health risks that any ordinary consumer could not be expected to be aware of. The amended case, however, builds on the judge's suggestion in his ruling that some products, such as Chicken McNuggets, might be so full of additives and fat that they were more unhealthy than consumers realized. The new complaint alleges that not just Chicken McNuggets, but McDonald's Filet-o-Fish, chicken sandwiches, hamburgers and french fries all fall into that category. -Financial Times